MPU, Alm.del - 2009-10 - Bilag 41: Udvalgsformandens tale fra konferencen "International Forum on Environment and Resources Legislation and Sustainable Development" i Beijing

Thank you for the invitation. I am glad to be here. I am chairman of the Danish Parliament'sEnvironment Committee and have for several years - more than 25 – worked with the environment,sustainable development, climate and renewable energy, mainly as a politician but also as directorgeneral for the Danish Environmental Protection Agency for 4 years. Today I also hold the chair ofGlobe Europe, which is a cross-border European organization engaged in cooperation betweenenvironmentally committed politicians. I am speaking today as an environmentally committedpolitician to other environmentally committed politicians.The challenge we face, is about creating a real sustainable development on planet earth. I amconvinced that we can not continue to produce and consume in the way we do it today. Even less sowhen we look ahead to the year 2050, and take into account the predictions that the planet'spopulation will grow to 9 billion people who are all entitled to a decent life.When it comes to climate change we have heard the warnings for many years - without acting onthem. However the reports from the UN climate panel are now so alarming that all countries in theworld hopefully is willing to act. The action which the UN Climate Panel calls for is well known.The rich part of the world – which I am from - must reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 25 -40% by 2020 and global emissions must peak in 2015. This gives us only a short period of time toact. In order to reach that target emerging economies also need to commit to ensure that emergingeconomies decouple economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions. Firstly by relativedecoupling. And then – in cooperation with the rich countries - create an absolute decouplingbetween economic growth and greenhouse gas emissions. The focus point of the remainingdeveloping countries must be low carbon growth plans. All this to prevent that temperature risesmore than 2 degrees in this century. It is a major challenge and a difficult task to stay below the 2degree increase. What lies beyond this is likely to generate extreme chaos.All effort should therefore be directed at securing that the necessary decisions are made inCopenhagen in December - only 2 months from now. This requires political will, more political willthan in Bangkok a couple of weeks ago.To day any sustainable development discussion is about climate change. But I would like tounderline here, that it is only the beginning of the necessary global discussions on resources.Shortly we will move on to the next discussion namely water and food supply. Then comesminerals, wood, metals, and so on. Climate is only one element in the major challenge of whateconomic growth should look like in the future.Within a few years, the growth model - which the world has inherited from The United States andalso from Europe, must change fundamentally. The resources in this world are limited - extremescarcity will arise. And our exploitation of existing resources is fundamentally unsustainable.Everybody is responsible, although the rich part of the world clearly has the main responsibility.Sustainable development is about creating an absolute decoupling of economic growth frompollution. A few years ago, the German Wuppertal institute laid out that we have to enableourselves to produce with a factor 10 compared to today’s production. Today we know that we haveto go even further. We have to create zero emission production. Recycling is not enough, we mustcreate industrial and biological cycles in which pollution is used in the cycle.

An absolute decoupling can only be done if resources, the environment and climate – becomesessential parts of economic policy. It must become as equally important as social and economicgrowth. And that means that absolute decoupling is directly incorporated into political economicdecisions, and that environmental policy is not merely used as"clean up after the growth”.If we make this transition wisely in both thinking and practice, then it will also be a fantastic period,marked by global innovation and job creation in a major shift of the economic model – a transitionthat is possible to compare to the same scale as the transition from agrarian- to industrial society.I believe that it is important that we insists on that goal and make it a global goal for all of us. Itgives us the chance to both cooperate and compete to become first-movers on new technologies, onphasing out fossil fuels, on renewable energy, on finding new ways to organize our cities, in whichmore than half of the world's population now lives, and to find a new and better concept ofdevelopment for the world's most poor. In fact it is all about the jobs for the future.In Danish we have a saying - "Rome was not built in a day". And this holds very true for thisagenda. Things take time. But fortunately much is already well know and we can do a lot to day.Therefore, technology- transfer, is an essential and important part of what we discus. Cooperationon the development of future green technologies is perhaps even more crucial, than direct transfer.For example through large global networks and programs between our universities. Global climate-and resource universities could contribute greatly to spreading the know-how we posses already. Itwould rise the possibility that research could be founded in the same basic idea – namely absolutedecoupling, renewable energy and closed systems generating no waste.In short - real sustainabledevelopment.It was very positive, that IRENA - The International Renewable Energy Agency - was founded inJanuary this year. I really hope, that there will be a strong political and economic will to give thisorganization power to build cooperation on technology transfer and improve the politicalenvironment for use of renewable energy.

Let me then say a few words about the Denmark. We have a large per capita CO2 emission -approx. 10 tonnes – so this is not what you should learn from us. But we have 2 good stories.The share of wind energy in our energy supply and our ability to save energy. My country hasmanaged to have steady economic growth since the 1970s and at the same time almost no growth inenergy consumption.In 2008 17 % of our gross energy consumption came from renewable resources – and 19 % of ourelectricity consumption from wind. We have planned that renewable should rise to 30% by 2020while the EU overall has adopted 20% by 2020.It's been a long road to get here. The development started in the late '70s. and today we have theworld's largest wind turbine industry. Today windturbines are one of Denmark's largest industries(7.2% of total Danish exports in 2008) and a very good illustration of the fact that commitment torenewable energy is also an initiator of economic development. And in the Danish case, afundamental part of our wealth creation. In the future we will be able to go much further.Denmark is also one of the most energy efficient countries. We focus on combined heat and powerand central heating systems in all towns. And we have used economic instruments as taxes on

And then my overall conclusions:* It is a major change we have to create within the next 30- 40 years on planet earth. In order to besuccessful we need broad cooperation – in other words we have to work together – all of us. Andwe must have the same goal if it is to become effective.* However it is also a great opportunity, because we at the same time will modernize our world toenable it to accommodate 9 billion people in 2050 with decent living conditions for all.* We should not deny that it is difficult, and that it requires a shift away from what is well knownbusiness as usual.* We must realize that climate change is just the beginning of a broader resource focus.* And renewable energy is essential in this process.Lastly, a plea from a Dane: Must all be willing to deliver an ambitious compromise in Copenhagenin December. Thank you.Steen Gade

Steen Gade, chairman of the Danish Parliament's Environment Committee.